Jottings of note:
Setting Up The Win
In an effort directed to branded podcast creators, audio intelligence company Veritonic is offering AI-powered tools to give companies pre-market intelligence about the branded podcast realm. The company frames this initiative as “powering the future of audio branding.” Part of it is evaluating the emotional resonance of existing brand content. The suite of intelligence tools also gives clients data about competitors’ distribution channels and audio responses. “Equipping brands with the necessary tools to stand out amidst the noise” is the goal. READ
New Direction
ABC Audio is departing from its nine-year relationship with Skyview Networks, and shifting its ad representation to Compass Media for ABC’s immense audio catalog. ABC News Radio is distributed to 1,500 stations around the country. ON the digital side, ABC Audio displays a few dozen podcasts on its homepage, including the well-known Start Here morning news podcast hosted by RAIN Summit keynoter Brad Mielke. The switchover will happen in January, 2024. READ
Niceness
AI company Seekr has partnered with audio-centric ad agency Oxford Road to develop what they call a Civility Score. It’s all about brand safety for advertisers. Seekr scores podcasts fro low to high based on “the level of personal attack in each show, factoring in context and nuance.” Then the scoring provides metrics on the amount and nature of discord in the show. The goal, according to both companies, is to allow brands to “avoid getting caught in the crossfire.”
Re-up
AdvertiseCast, a subsidiary of Libsyn, has renewed its partnership with podcast The Commercial Break, a leading improv comedy podcast hosted by Bryan Green and Krissy Hoadley. AdvertiseCast will deploy its full-service advertising platform, including the incorporation of host-read ads, as well as other service offerings.
Biggest Fear
School of Podcasting owner Dave Jackson posts a fervent opinion piece: Why I Loved – And Hated – Stitcher — a personal history of his relationship with the venerable podcast app which will soon be eliminated by parent company Sirius XM. It’s a crumbling love/hate reminiscence. “My biggest fear is that podcasting will follow the road of radio,” he says. READ
20th
Podnews editor James Cridland celebrated the 20th anniversary of podcasting’s birth with a pictorial history of the medium’s early years, including an interview with Christopher Lydon, co-producer (with Dave Winer) of the first RSS-embedded podcast in 2003. Lydon says he knew they were onto something from the start, but was surprised by the quick commercialization of podcasts. Much more in this fascinating retrospective. READ
July 13, 2023
